3 - Tom grew up in London, the only child of advertising and comedy writer Edward Hardy and his artist mother Anne.

Made his debut in the acclaimed HBO WWII series Band of Brothers (2001)

Held his own against Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: Nemesis, as a Romulan villain - only his fourth film credit (2002)

Has played sympathetic good guys, seriously frightening bad guys and my favorite of all, shifting gray characters with equal ease

Has played roles dating from the Middle Ages, Elizabethan England, Georgian era, Victorian era, 20th century war time, contemporary stories and futuristic

Next photo is straying into Not Safe For Work territory...

4 - Tom keeps in shape - but doesn't generally play roles with constant fight sequences as some of the previous hotties from my Eye Candy series have done.

This shot above is from a stage performance. Tom has extensive stage credits as well as a steady string of film credits, which is highly uncommon in a man of his age.

5 - The very delicious Mr. Hardy is now engaged to his Wuthering Heights co-star Charlotte Riley, their wedding planned for 2011. Eye candy only, ladies...

6 - Tom appeared in the BBC series The Virgin Queen as Elizabeth I's long-time lover Robert Dudley, where he ages from a young courtier to a weathered player of political intrigue with the finesse of a far more mature actor than the 28-year-old that Tom was, when he took on the role.

7 - He can play charming contemporary characters in ensemble pieces like 2006's Scenes of a Sexual Nature.

8 - Remember my soft spot for a man in chains?

...well...

Tom's roles generally skip all of that, even though he has often played gangsters like notorious British prisoner Charles Bronson, shown above, in 2008's Bronson.

9 - And Tom is an awesome crier.

10 - Tom's range is vast. No typecasting for him.

In Rock 'n Rolla he played gay gangster Handsome Bob, who comes out to best friend Gerard Butler in a memorable scene. He plays his character's gay aspects as merely a layer of his overall character and not as the defining aspect, as many actors might.

Meanwhile, in 2007's Oliver Twist his Bill Sykes makes you forget there ever was a menacing Oliver Reed in the role before him.

11 - Tom has four projects soon to be released or currently shooting, including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Dark Knight Rises.

12 - About his wild child early years, Tom says:

"From a very young age I was flagrantly disobedient. I got involved in anything that was naughty. I wanted to explore all the dark corners of the world, partly to see if I could control it.

From tattoos through to drug abuse, drinking, violent behaviour, robbery, carrying guns — all symptoms of self-hatred." - The Telegraph

"The problem for me is psychological. So I have to be careful about obsessing about anything. Food could be as dangerous for me as drink or drugs. I could either binge or starve. On a film set, I might have breakfast at 5am and just keep eating all day. Right now, I'm rehearsing a play, and I could easily go without meals for two days.

"And I could just as easily become a gym-junkie, too. Recently I went through a period where I was lifting a lot of weights, and I had to stop that, not just because I had to slim down to play Stuart, but because it was becoming addictive." - London Evening Standard

13 - Tom has been nominated for numerous awards and has won the British Independent Film Award for Bronson. It's only a guess, but I think this actor has 'Oscar' written all over him.